Double day tripping.

I like to travel. I’d like to do more traveling, but work, personal projects, and just affording everything that a full-on vacation entails makes big trips difficult. So I’ve resigned myself to turning weekends into getaways and fitting a bit of a weekend mentality into specific niches within super short work trips. The secret is packing light and packing perfectly, so that all my other energies can be channeled into what district to explore and what foods to eat.

Thanks to my maximizing tendencies and intense addiction to credit card points, I’ve come to what I think is the ultimate approach to minimal baggage and streamlined small-scale jet setting.

The secret is bottoms that work for day and night, which those who are not fond of the 80s and 90s would regret to admit, are black jeans. Keep in mind there was a four-year period in my life where I did not own any jeans. Despite growing up in the Bay, birthplace of everyday denim, I didn’t succumb to daily jean wear until after college. Basically I had to wait until the denim designers started making jeans that rose above the hips, because I have mid-distance/hurdler thighs, and musk-les need more material.

Item No. 2

The blazer. I feel ridiculously uncomfortable in button-up shirts and most things that fall under “Ann Taylor,” but blazers I can do. In fact, blazers are about the most business-y thing I wear, because they also do a slick job of being classy cover-ups over party outfits. I’ve banned myself from buying black outerwear for the last four years or so, but as the camel color becomes a must throughout every piece of apparel, I’ve fallen for neutral blazers. And yes, print blazers are growing on me, too.

Item No. 3

Who’s that flash zipping through Security? It’s me, it’s me! Or I like to think that way. The period from the first stantion to the carry-on bins is a careful dance requiring clothed stripping while letting as few person effects touch the ground as possible. Just before getting the laptop out of the laptop bag, you have to give up your shoes, and triple lace boots will not play nice at this level of the game. Thus: slip-on shoes. This doesn’t mean they have to be mules, Crocs, or even flip-flops. Modest heels on a plane actually aren’t that bad, and a pair of pumps take about three seconds to remove in total.

When it comes to traveling – arguably the ultimate test in wardrobe-editing – simple wins every time. Everything I throw into my (new Samsonite spinner!) roll-on has to interlock into at least one other outfit and share at least one characteristic with another piece. When you’re too busy to fly at leisure, all these things matter. It’s a logic puzzle and a challenge. Even before the journey before the destination, the packing is the first thing that gets me excited for every trip.